Bacon-Pimento Green Chile Cheese

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I’m somewhat of a lazy appetizer maker. I readily concede it. I nearly always do make some something or other from scratch, pairing it with a bowl or two of nuts and maybe some high end potato chips. (My current chip crush is a Truffle one you can order on amazon. Shoot me if I’m wrong.) More often than not – scroll down to IF YOU LIKED THIS to prove my tale –I whip up a cheese spread of some sort. It’s easy; it holds if made ahead; it keeps and might even freeze if it’s leftover. Works out all around.

A party loaf you can still make today. (courtesy Betty Crocker)

Over the past several years, I’ve gotten friendly with the, by now, very famous Lee Brothers Pimento Cheese (google it). Born to a southern-bred mama, I’m no stranger to pimento cheese, especially layered into a party loaf for a baby shower. But I don’t think I’d ever made it myself as a young cook, so was glad to rediscover it. While I liked the basic batch lots, I quickly began to play with it, as is my wont — not a popular thing to do in the south, where Pimento Cheese is serious business. Nonetheless, play with it I did, going all southwest (I do live and love in Colorado) with the addition of roasted green chiles and later on even adding shrimp. Oh no!! Oh yes!! I loved them all but yesterday, when my good friend Jim White was coming to dinner, I had everything for a pimento cheese spread of some sort but also had leftover crisply-fried bacon. I know; who has leftover bacon? Well, you know what happened. And, I couldn’t help but think, “Bacon for breakfast, bacon for lunch!!” You do remember the movie “Grumpier Old Men,” right? (If not, time to watch that and its predecessor. You missed out.) This movie has prime bacon dialog. If you haven’t seen it, Grandpa Gustafson was played by Burgess Meredith and John (Johnny) Gustafson was played by Jack Lemmon. Here’s the dialog:

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Sautéed Rockfish with Caprese and Roasted Vegetables

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Fish is fast and simple. Honest. But: Don’t leave the stove for a minute. Be the boss of it and have no fish fear!
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I run hot. Who doesn’t in July? It makes me tired and fussy, sighing over and over inordinately and picking fights with the dog. I often want to live in the basement forever or bathe in iced tea. But I cheer up when there’s a dinner that looks and tastes like this on the table. And even though we cook quite a bit of our summer meals on an outdoor grill, the weather isn’t always cooperative. Sometimes I take one look out on the deck (see left photo) and decide we are cooking indoors. The other option is to go out to eat but we rarely go out to dinner. This isn’t a complaint. We could do it. We just don’t do it very often as we like to eat at home. (In hot weather, some restaurants aren’t really cool, either.) The other day, my rockfish was thawed. The plan was to grill it simply and top it with a blueberry-peach salsa. Maybe some asparagus? Instead, moving indoors after glancing at troublesome skies, I knew a different meal was about to take place. I had had a taste for roasted vegetables for days and, despite them not being terribly summer-ish, thought I’d roast them up in my countertop Breville oven. Carrots and baby potatoes are nearly always in my larder, so I’d go with those. Should I grill the fish in the stovetop grill pan or do something different? The rockfish is kinda flakey and tender; I had had concerns about grilling it and keeping the thin fillets intact. I knew I was jonesing for a solid pan of some sort.

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Green Bean Caesar Salad

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Avoiding lettuce right now? Save this recipe for later! Or consider using homegrown or farmer’s market greens. You might also serve the dressed beans on a large layer of big, ripe, sliced tomatoes instead of the romaine. Don’t forget the parm and croutons!

It’s for sure the Dog Days of Summer wherever you live unless you’re in Australia. (And if you ARE in Australia, I’m jealous! I’ve just checked the temperature in Melbourne.) What are “Dog Days” anyway? The Old Farmer’s Almanac tells us:

The Dog Days of Summer run from July 3 to August 11 each year. Far more than a modern saying, the phrase comes from ancient skywatchers who noticed that the brightest star, Sirius, rose with the Sun during this period. For centuries, this hot part of summer has carried both astronomical meaning and layers of folklore.

Our Miss Rosie, 12-yr labradoodle

By the way, Sirius is the alpha star of Canus Major — greater dog. Hence, “dog days.”

Dog days make me think more of a hot old dog dragging around with its tongue hanging out after too long of a walk in mid-summer. (And there are people who walk their dogs midafternoon; their poor burning feet!) Or perhaps I’d consider these warm weeks to be the height of hot dog season, as in wieners at the ball park or on the backyard grill. After all, it’s also baseball season.

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Burrata Pasta Salad: Make it Yours This Summer

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I would have bet my best bottle of red against finding out that there are well over 10 million recipes for burrata salad on google. Ok; I didn’t count them but AI said it did. Do we trust it? Well, maybe for this. Counting is one thing AI does well, I’m thinking. But, actually when you check into it, AI does not, in fact, count well. For grins, let’s just give her a million less or a million more and I’d still be sitting with my eyes stretched wiiiiidely open and my jaw skewed over to the left indicating my surprise. I can’t in my strangest, most massive dreams imagine 10 million of anything. Would I even want 10 million of anything? Yes; you’re right. I’d go for $10 million and so would you. 10 million recipes for a burrata salad? I’ll let you peruse the internet and choose one sometime (many, but not all, are a sort of caprese salad) but, for now, let’s go with mine. Because we can. And because I’ve no doubt you’ll soon make it yours. And anyway, mine is a Burrata Pasta Salad, not just a B-flat burrata salad, right? However you do yours, it will be charming, captivating, and delicious. It will be the sum of summer! Promise. And, here’s the best thing: This is mostly a no-cook meal. What’s better come summer?

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Lemon Blueberry Poundcake

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Do your berries sink or swim? Scroll down to read more.

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I’m not nearly the kind of cook who bakes another cake as soon as we’ve finished the first one. Well, I hope I’m not. But I’m married to a cookie monster with an inveterate sweet tooth who eats, on average, two or three servings of dessert a day. (Need I say he manages to stay on the thinner side, too?) That means there’s got to be something, actually more than one something confectionary available at all times. For breakfast, creature of habit that he is, he every day hits the homemade oatmeal cookie-ish granola topped with yogurt and fresh fruit but if there is, say, banana bread, then banana bread takes the place of the granola. And why not? As soon as the lunch plate is licked clean, he’s sussing out the cookie situation or slicing up a piece of cake or pie or tart or clafoutis–or whatever’s ready to eat. Ditto after dinner. And occasionally midafternoon.

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Patti and Alyce’s Spring Chicken Salad

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No! Not that kind of spring chicken!
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THOSE WHO COOK TOGETHER STAY TOGETHER!

Chives in my garden. I have tons! The beautiful purple flowers are edible, too.

Fine cooking friend and local caterer par excellence, Patti White, and I banded together to develop a recipe for this main dish salad to serve 40+ guests for a fun Saturday evening event at First Congregational Church, Colorado Springs. During a trial run last Wednesday, we took my spring fave More Time at the Table Asparagus-Potato Salad , oven-roasted instead of boiled the potatoes, added Patti’s tender lemon-grilled chicken breast along with a tender bed of well-seasoned baby spinach and fresh basil leaves, then topped the whole thing with a piquant, mustardy vinaigrette showered with a fine dusting of freshly-ground pepper. Garnishes? For sure and always. Kalamata olives for the brine; Parmigiano-Reggiano for the salty umami; halved cherry tomatoes for color, texture, and a fresh element; and YAY!! chives from my garden just because. Did we like it? We so, so did… (I love it when Patti and I work together.)

Et voilà, a handsome, toothsome, whole-meal salad was born. While it was awesome for a large crowd (wedding shower, anyone?), I’m thinking it might be just about perfect for you and a few close friends or you and a partner with a couple of extra meals thrown in. Let’s think a simple spring or summer supper, shall we? Scroll down for DINNER PARTY ideas.

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FRIDAY FISH: Smoked Salmon Arugula Salad –Featuring a Light Sour Cream Vinaigrette (You’ll want to use this vinaigrette a lot!)

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simple, healthy, easy

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My best sous

While I’m a bit late to the gate getting started on lenten –or any other time–FRIDAY FISH recipes, this one’s worth waiting for. I’ve been making it for a few months, though the story begins with just the vinaigrette. Ok; it’s a tish long of a story but worthwhile. Wanting to escape the traditional high-calorie olive oil vinaigrette … there are 480 calories in 1/4 cup of olive oil … I had paid close attention one day when my mentor Jacques Pépin (he doesn’t know he’s my mentor) mentioned something about using cream for a vinaigrette as it had 50 calories per tablespoon rather than the 120 for olive oil! Well, this little WW follower stood up and took notice, filing that away for posterity, but really for me. Not long afterward, making a salad, I thought about the yummy Daisy Light Sour Cream that saves my bu** so often while cooking. (I often stir a dollop into a bowl of pureed vegetable soup and skip the high-cal and fatty heavy cream too many cooks stir in at the end of cooking.) And, why, I ruminated, couldn’t I use it for a vinaigrette? If heavy cream was good enough for my man Jacques, why not light sour cream, which weighs in at 35 calories per tablespoon, for me? So, the next time I made salad, I made my vinaigrette just like always BUT — I whisked in Daisy Light Sour cream instead of extra virgin olive oil. Eureka!!! Voila!!! Bingo jingo!!! A lower-calorie, creamy vinaigrette was born. Hello, huge salads and maybe even caloric deficits.

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Easy Slow Cooker Pinto Beans for the Super Bowl or Tonight!

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You can eat a big bowl of pinto beans just as they are without one blessed thing on top. And you’ll love them. Add a heaping spoonful of jarred salsa or fresh pico de gallo if you feel the need for a little snazz. Or load up that same bowl with color, texture, and flavor (see photo above) for a totally different experience. Because you can or because you want good looking Super Bowl food! We do eat first with our eyes. You could add the beans to a pot of chili or a plate of perky salad or platter of pasta laced with thinly sliced jalapeño. Toss them in a food processor and whirr together a dip. Be like Chipotle and roll up a burrito. Poach your eggs in a cup of them and score about 30 grams of protein. Build up a 7-layer dip. (Remember those?) Refry the bejesus out of a cup or two. Is the sky the limit? It is. Mighty pinto beans, good and gorgeous food, are also ferociously versatile. And did you know my fine state, Colorado, produces a lot of the pinto bean crop, along with Mexico, New Mexico, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Idaho?

I make pinto beans once a month or so for dinner. We eat a big bowl with cornbread and then freeze the rest in small containers to serve with tacos or thaw for a quick weekday lunch. I have little against canned beans and keep them in my cabinet year round —LOVE CHILI!!–but homemade beans are such a major step up. They’re cheaper, too, (about half the price) and less full of the dreaded sodium. I do cook them on the stovetop or in the Instant Pot but the slow cooker might be my favorite method. There’s something about getting things done early and not worrying about them the rest of the day. Something about walking into the house during the day and the sweet fragrance hitting you in the face, letting you know, “Dinner’s coming.” Something about something bubbling away on the countertop while you do whatever it is you want to do. Slow cooker food sort of spells, “freedom” to this cook.

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Chippy Dippy Hummus Salad and Grandma Pizzas : A New Year’s Eve Spread

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When you still want chips and dips but feel you should lean a little more into the healthy lane…

I can’t imagine who would name a recipe something like, “Chippy Dippy Hummus Salad.” Surely not me but here I am. It’s the silly, but sticking name that came first to mind when I threw this little baby together as a combination appetizer-salad course to go with two big grandma pizzas Dave made for our Florida family on New Year’s Eve using my Pizza Class recipe. I began by whirring together my take on Jacques Pépin’s basic hummus recipe, meanwhile planning on chopping up a big green salad as well. But as I sliced up a few fresh veggies for dipping, I thought, “Why not dollop — or doll up– this dreamy hummus down the center of a big bunch of arugula seasoned within an inch of its life and stand up the perky veggies around the sides?” I grabbed a 3-quart, rectangular Pyrex casserole from my sister Helen’s pantry and began to put it together, only wondering a minute later about sticking the casserole in one of her large baskets for appearances’ sake. And, if I was going to do that, why wouldn’t I include a few tortilla, pita, and Kettle Salt and Pepper chips for good luck? And, if I’d gone THAT far, how about adding an on-the-rocks glass full of onion dip (I had to make that quick like a bunny), as well as one with pico de gallo, which I’d bought premade at the market? I mean, there was all that extra space needing filling. Sure, I could do that. And did it get eaten pronto? Yes, it did!

I’ll tell you a little about the pizzas and, in the meantime, you can think about the hummus salad for dinner now that you’ve just about decided to embark on healthy January. Haven’t you?!

25+ Scrumptious Dishes to Jumpstart Your Healthy January

20 Main Dish Salads to Continue Your Healthy January

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Peanut Butter Ginger Cookies, Christmas Cookie for 2025

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Could she take the happy but savory pairing of peanut butter + ginger and turn it into a cookie? She could.

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Most years, or at least those when I’m well and very lucky, I attempt to create a new-ish Christmas cookie. For years, my modus operandi was to bake all–or nearly all–our family favorites but to try something different, too. Maybe from a magazine or a new book or even the newspaper, though these days that might only mean the New York Times. Eventually, I began creating my own new cookies. Sometimes they’re innovative; other times I just manage a tweak on a standard like shortbread or Mexican Wedding Cookies. I’m equally proud of both styles. Really, it’s not easy to come up with a cookie totally unlike anything anyone’s baked before but it’s an interesting conundrum. Nothing new under the sun and all that. For the last couple of months, maybe less, I’ve had two cookies in mind. The one you’re reading about is a cookie I’m a bit proud of, a PEANUT BUTTER GINGER COOKIE. This small sweet has been in the works for a while now, but given I’ve had the flu, I hadn’t gotten the recipe written or tested. Until now, that is. The other is one I’ll ponder in my heart, like Mary, perhaps until next year. You’ll just have to wait.

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